Sustainability is a key element of our learning programme and our Mission. We are pleased to share the following highlights from the 2024/2025 academic year–opportunities and experiences made possible with the support of our generous UWCSEA donor community. Thank you to everyone who contributed to helping our students develop the skills, qualities and agency to create a better world.
CREATING SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS AND COMMUNITY
The Live Lighter Collective has been envisioned as a dynamic, multi-purpose space that embodies our commitment to sustainability, creativity, and community engagement. The sustainability team and students on East wanted to address the growing need for a dedicated area where we can showcase and sell student-created products such as soaps, candles, and beeswax wraps from our Environmental Initiatives (EI). The intention was also to create a place to display preloved uniforms from the hard work of the PS Used Uniform Squad (a parent and student sustainability initiative).
In addition to serving as a wonderful place to display Service & Sustainable Development (SSD) wares, the Live Lighter Collective will foster a collaborative environment where students, parents, and the local community can connect. Serving as a platform to inspire the broader community to adopt sustainable practices and explore practical, environmentally friendly alternatives to ‘Live Lighter’.
The project began with a reimagining of the look and feel of the space in October–December 2024, followed by a stocking of the space with sustainable products created by our students. In March/April 2025, the final touches were put on the design of the space, and in June 2025, the space was officially open for business!
The Live Lighter Collective has been a brilliant collaboration among parents, students and staff.
The space not only helps to showcase our sustainability efforts and mission to our entire community, but also offers a tangible opportunity to demonstrate that with a bit of creativity and ingenuity, our students can create marketable products that are good for the planet.”
— Aloni Cahusac, Head of Sustainability, East Campus
HANDS-ON CONNECTIONS TO NATURE FOR OUR YOUNGEST LEARNERS
With support from our generous UWCSEA community our Forest School pilot programme on Dover campus was a huge success! This year, all K1 students (88 in total) participated in a new six-week immersive learning programme.
Led by experienced Forest School teacher Kathy Corner, the programme offered a taste of outdoor adventure. Students had the opportunity to develop a deep connection to nature, nurture their role as environmental stewards, build their sensory awareness, and hone their physical and selfmanagement skills.
At the beginning of the school year, the Primary School team held a series of engagement mornings with parents to explain the objectives, as well as to outline the practicalities of the programme (including how students would dress, the fact that bug spray should be applied, and the understanding that kids might come home a little muddy on these days!)
We have received significant feedback from students and parents indicating they are incredibly happy with the programme. Here are testimonials from our community:
Sasha has absolutely loved the sessions and I know that her classmates have loved [them] just as much. She came home each Thursday absolutely full of beans, telling us at dinner time about what she did, how muddy she got (!), what bugs she saw. She now loves to point out centipedes and millipedes and tells us the difference between the two, as well as regaling us with tales of trees she’s climbed around campus.” — Laura, UWCSEA Parent
The programme has been so deeply valued by educators and students alike that we have decided to incorporate the Forest School as a core part of our curriculum for not just K1, but also extending to other primary school grades in the year ahead.
REIMAGINING
WASTE
AS A VALUABLE RESOURCE
The sustainability team, along with students and parent volunteers, spent significant time and effort re-opening the Zero Waste Centre (ZWC) on East Campus to our community for various purposes over the course of the last year.
First we channeled many of our donation drop-offs, sorting, packing, re-homing and re-distributing efforts into this space. This brought classes and Service groups together to see the entire system of donation drives—and it’s a lot messier than most people realise!
We also set up the space to host staff workshops during Professional Development days, Student Service Executive weekly meetings, as well as planning for Service and Sustainable Development (SSD) events and projects. Notably, the parent and student Primary School initiative, “Used Uniform Squad,” met every Tuesday at lunchtime in the ZWC to discuss and tackle the massive school system of used uniforms. High School economics and design technology classes also utilised this amazing space for their circular economy investigations.
While this space still requires a lot of oversight and upkeep, largely on the part of volunteers, there is significant value in the activities and intentions of the space, and we continue to explore ways to make it more accessible to the entire community.
At UWCSEA, we’re reimagining waste as a valuable resource, not just a problem to be solved. Our ZWC is at the heart of that transformation. This dynamic learning space is more than a “recycling centre”—it’s a living lab of the circular economy, rooted in systems thinking and the three pillars of sustainability: environmental integrity, social equity, and economic viability.”
— Aloni Cahusac, Head of Environmental Sustainability, East Campus
GARDENS BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER FOR THE PLANET
I’m really grateful for this opportunity to continue my passion for planting within the UWCSEA community. My boys also get to experience nature firsthand, learning to appreciate and respect it through my little plot (Plot 4). We’ve all been enjoying the 100% organic and fresh vegetables, adding them to noodles, burgers, salads, and even hot pots and stir-fried dishes!”
— Danye, UWCSEA Parent
The new Community Allotment Garden is off to a great start this year! The programme was designed and activated in the first instance by our students from the Incredible Edible student service group. The objectives of the programme included a desire to expand edible garden spaces, increase biodiversity and grow more local plants, while also offering more learning and gardening spaces in nature that are accessible to all.
The first 5 gardening beds were installed in the Green Heart earlier in the year, with plans already underway to double the number of gardening beds in the year ahead. Excitingly, the plots are being cultivated by a diverse group of community gardeners, including UWCSEA students, parents and staff. This has cultivated meaningful engagement and community spirit across the group of participants,
Whether a seasoned gardener or just starting out, members of our community have come together to grow their own selection of plants, share their skills and knowledge, build community connections, and experience the restorative power of gardening. Here are some other testimonials:
I have enjoyed gardening with my colleagues. It’s nice to take time away from our desks to do something relaxing during our busy work days together. I have also gained a better appreciation for vegetables when growing them myself—the peas, basil and spring onion are so fresh, and growing them inspires me to incorporate more fresh veggies into my diet.”
— Farhana, UWCSEA staff member
My allotment has provided a lot of joy and community-building in the short months that I’ve participated. I found it low-barrier to get started, and within weeks my plot was producing despite minimal attention and basically no watering.”
— Anna, UWCSEA Parent
SUSTAINABILITY ACTION AND IMPACT CONTINUING TO GROW
In addition to these impactful and important initiatives, we advanced a host of other sustainability initiatives across Dover and East campuses to support hands-on, real world learning that foster student agency to take action for the planet.
We continued to advance our Rainforest Restoration Programme in partnership with NParks, expanded our composting efforts to include new wormeries which has helped our students learn about the vital role of earthworms in ecosystems.
On Dover Campus, our new weather station installed in the Dover Green Heart enables students to collect real time data, compare with local weather trends and use the data in maths, humanities and science lessons. The gardening groups can also use the data to know when our delicate seedlings and young rainforest trees might need an extra watering.
On East, the campus food forest has become a widely used and appreciated outdoor learning space. Students across all the schools, Primary, Middle and High have been very active in this space. From planting new species, to mapping biodiversity on campus, to just simply watching the birds and interacting with insects. Younger students have been able to actively plan and plant new species to attract more living organisms to campus. The Food Forest has a lot of potential, and we are looking forward to expanding its footprint and impact in the school year ahead.
At the community level, we also brought in speakers such as Prof Cheong Koon Heon, Chair of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at the Singapore University of Technology and Design and Chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities Advisory Panel under the Ministry of National Development. Prof Cheong was one of our guest speakers through our Kishore Mahbubani Speaker Series (KMSS). In her presentation, she shared valuable perspectives on the forces shaping the environment, the enablers and drivers that transformed the city-state into a “City in Nature” and about Tengah, the new exciting and futuristic site for Dover Campus.
These are just a few of the many examples of sustainability education in action at UWCSEA! Thank you for your continued generosity and support to help us go above and beyond for our students and our mission.
For more information about UWCSEA’s Environmental Sustainability Programme, or to renew your support today, please contact: UWCSEA Foundation | +65 6419 9353 | foundation@uwcsea.edu.sg | www.uwcesa.edu.sg/supportus
